Living it Hard
by UchihaNightFlower
Summary: -YAOI- Life is hard. Everyone has it hard. But no one has it like Naruto or Sasuke. Life is long. Yet, it's always too short. Oh hell with it! -SasuNaru- language, possible lemon, R&R! -FAILED-
1. Without You Now

**Living It Hard **

****

**_Disclaimer:_**I don't get why people have to have disclaimers...I mean...everyone knows that Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto! But anyway, sadly, I don't own Naruto. Neither do I own Sasuke or any other Naruto characters.

_Mwahaha! I finally uploaded a file! Fear me! Okay so I'm new and …don't put me down, just read it and suggest possible improvements but I'm really sentimental so…don't make me cry :) Okay that was Boo, my Inner Evil Twin Sister, but that's too long so I'll call her Boo for a while. Okay read!_

_(My gosh, what a title…anyways, this chapter is the NOW and it's like…say present time…then later it tells what happened in the PAST…and the reason for this horrible treatment to my kitsune nyah hope you get it) _

**Chapter 1: Without You Now… PROLOGUE**

****

**_"Come boy…I'll give you a place to go." _**

_Liar… _

****

**_"You will live happily…come…" _**

_Monster… _

****

**_"You have a beautiful body; you can be good use…" _**

_BASTARD!_

A tan fist came in contact with an already-cracked mirror, now destroying it into tiny shards. The dripping of blood matched the dripping of water from the tap. A filthy blonde sat back down on the grimy toilet seat.

His body was coated with dirt and a few bruises on his bare chest. The small teen of 19 hugged his knee and stared blankly into space with those blue eyes that had long lost their brightness.

'_Hate…loss…confusion…I don't exist…_'

The words repeated through his head as he rocked himself a little, holding his head, crying those tears that have long dried.

'_Pathetic…pathetic…_'

A hand suddenly reached out from the darkness to the boy. It closed around the soiled mat of hair and pulled with such force that even the bravest ones would yell out. But the teen stayed silent, used to the pain. He was dragged off his place on the lavatory seat and dropped painfully on his side on the cold wet floor.

A figure knelt beside him, "Time to work, slut." The voice by him whispered, and then chuckled. The teen barely heard, nor did he care.

He was roughly bathed by dirty water, changed into barely anything at all; invisible hands sprayed his whole body with strong-smelling cologne.

Seemingly clean, this blonde was pushed out into arms of dark-faced drunks. The music pounding at full volume was silent to the boy. The touches of the pleasure-seeking men weren't felt.

The words they said never reached his ears, never unraveled any sense in his mind. The blonde just nods and smiles, flirting as much as possible to please and earn the few dollars that were tossed his way.

Behind every smile was the desperate face mouthing the words 'help me'. But with every one of those fake grins, the ignorant drunks get even more content than they were. Rubbing his leg along one of his costumers, the boy offered the drunken man a massage. The blonde unwillingly led him into a spare room and started to undress. He seductively motioned for the man to come.

The room was suddenly filled with cries of pain and anger. The shouts of pain where accompanied by sobs every once in a while. The boy was found nude on the dusty floor, sobbing those dry tears. What he must do to earn money.

'_I wish you were here…day and night…I wish I can hold you…_'

Once hauled back in the filthy, dark area, away from the music, the crowd, and the strong scent of alcohol, the exhausted teen leaned back on a thin layer of blanket, hugged his thin figure and fell fast asleep, without any hope of tomorrow.

In his dream, he was running down a hall way. A very long hallway. His legs were getting tired but he couldn't stop. He had to reach the end. Colors danced in the distance and opened up to greet him. All of a sudden, a loud cracking noise broke out. The blonde looked up and saw his world, his memories, and his hopes shattering like glass. Down, down, down…the pieces hit the suddenly cold floor. The boy kept running, unable to pick up those fallen dreams, unable to stop the flow of blood from his feet. He tripped and fell. The ground beneath him disappeared and he was falling once again into darkness.

* * *

**_Me and Boo:_**

So...short...and...stupid...but oh well...MY VERY FIRST FANFIC! Oh my god! I'm not crazy. Okay nothing else to say until inspiration hits me...I think I have a second half of the story somewhere...can't find it...god damned computer!

-**UNF**


	2. Eyes Wide, It's You

**Living It Hard **

****

**_Disclaimer: _**Okay...so...Masashi Kishimoto God Bless Him owns Naruto and he is too selfish to share with me so...I don't own that kawaii kitsune!

_Okay! I found the other part of this Fic. It's like...two hours after I did my first chapter. But I'm lazy so I'm gonna make this the second chapter...I'm talking to no one right now because no one reads my stuff but... 'I am beautiful...' ...so smile :)_

_(This is short and it's...weird... XD) _

****

**Chapter 2: Eyes Wide, It's You**

A raven-haired teen stood in the back of what seems like an empty classroom. His hand was mid-way to the handle of the supply closet. He turned and looked at the doorway and sure enough, half a dozen girls were huddled there, ogling at him.

The black-haired teen narrowed his onyx eyes and gave an 'I'll-kill-you-if-you-don't-go-away-in-three-seconds' look to one of the teens up front, adding a, "Fuck off, fucker. Now."

It worked. The girls squealed and scattered. He turned back to the closet and opened it, taking out a pretty big drawing lying on the bottom shelf.

Uchiha Sasuke put his bag on a table and sat down with his drawing, which he was trying to finish since last month. It showed a dark figure of what looked like a devil, resembling himself. Well…half a devil anyway. The other half was undone. It was blank, as if the devil was cut in half and the other part was missing.

Sasuke started tracing lines beside the black creature. He drew delicate wings and hands. He softened the face and jaw lines. Then…his hand was hovering above the paper, without any idea of what an _angel_ looked like.

A devil was easy since it was based on him. He had black hair, narrow, coal-black eyes, icy features and his smiling rated was 1 out of 100,000. But he hadn't set eyes on anyone who looked like an angel. Yet. Sasuke sighed and picked up an eraser, retracing the soft lines he had drawn with it. He looked at the devil's eye...or where the eye was supposed to be.

Picking up his pencil again, he sketched the eye of the dark half again. This time he drew the eye with no emotion, but a hint of hopelessness, as if the devil had lost something he couldn't recover. He hadn't noticed the class filling in until a voice behind him said,

"Hm? Nice picture."

The raven-haired teen looked up, surprised, though he did not show it. A man with silver hair was looking at him with one eye, for the other half was covered with a bit of cloth. He even wore a mask to hide the bottom half of his face.

Sasuke sighed, and put away his drawing. He took his bag a walked out of the classroom. He was at the door when a hand caught him on the shoulder.

"What do you want, Kakashi?" said Sasuke without turning around.

His teacher replied simply, "You can come over for dinner tonight if you want." Sasuke grunted in reply and walked out the door to his first period class.

Kakashi was a teacher in Leaf High and he had become like a guardian to the teen. Sasuke would trust Kakashi with his life if he had to, though he would never tell anyone.

He walked down the hallway, feeling pissed, as usual, and punched a locker without even turning around. The locker bent inwards from the impact. The lock was no longer needed. Sasuke didn't care about it. He never did.

He was halfway to his class when something bumped into him from behind. He regained his balance and turned around to see a small boy about his age bent over picking up some books that had fallen from the impact.

"Sorry! I wasn't watching my way! I'm sorry!" the boy was still muttering apologies as he picked up a stack of papers. The boy was wearing a sweater and the hood was hiding his face. Sasuke barely glanced at the teen before he turned without a word and walked down to his class, stepping on his stack of paper in the process. Normally he would have

kicked someone like that. But, everything depended on his mood. It had always been like that.

He wasn't that late but the class was already assembled. He walked to the back of the classroom and plopped down in the back seat. Sasuke took out his book and started reading while the other students chatted away about things that could not matter less. He reached for a little white box and lit a cigarette. No one dared complain.

The class suddenly grew quiet but Sasuke didn't look up, knowing that the teacher just came in. What he didn't expect is the sudden break-out of whispers among the classmates. He looked up slightly from his book and saw a figure standing beside the teacher.

'A new student I suppose…' Sasuke thought.

There was something familiar about the figure though he couldn't recall what. The teacher said, "Class, this is a new student that will be joining us for the rest of the year. Please be nice to him." the teacher turned to the boy next to him and Sasuke recognized him to be the teen that bumped into him in the hall way.

"Why don't you go sit in the back? If you feel uncomfortable there, tell me." The teacher was saying to the boy. The boy nodded and his hood fell off. It revealed a mass of blonde hair, tanned skin, and bright blue eyes.

Sasuke's eyes widened

'Angel.'

* * *

**_Me and Tesi:_**

DAMN! Okay it's currently... 1:28am here...I'm staying up to watch FIFA! Brazil gonna kick butt! Okay the rest of the Fic hadn't hit me yet, so to whomever that is reading this, too bad. The other chapters will be longer :) Oh I decided to call my crazy self TESI. It's an anagram of the letters I.E.T.S. It stands for Inner Evil Twin Sister. : P

**-UNF**


	3. A Ying for my Yang

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Not even the whisker of the kawaii kitsune. Not even the cloud of that lazy Shikamaru :( Oh well...you get the point...I don't own Naruto--sniff--

**_A/N:_**_ So...I got some reviews saying that the chapters should be longer, so I made a longer one! Hehe...this one is just weird...plain weird in my opinion. EEE! Okay Ino and Sakura lovers, don't hate me --tries to hide-- I promise I won't make them bitches...--whispers-- because they are...AHHH --runs as a piano is thrown at me-- _

_And upon realization...I have reviews! XD Even though it's not a lot but I appreciate them! Oh yeah, this story is not fully planned out so I'm making it as I go...sort of :) _

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking_

**Chapter 3: A Ying for my Yang **

Sasuke was oblivious to the murmurs around him; he was just staring at the new student that was walking down the aisle to sit in the empty seat beside him.

He shook off the feeling and put on his cold mask he always used. But behind that mask, he was struggling to keep from staring at the newcomer. The blonde suddenly turned to him and smiled.

The smile almost knocked Sasuke off his chair. It was so bright and…unexpected. But the teen knew better, and grunted in reply. The new student barely sat down when the teacher said, "So, would you care to introduce yourself?"

"Oh sorry, forgot to do that. My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I love ramen, especially miso ramen. But beef's pretty good also. Maybe I'm going to try pork tomorrow! I don't like the fact that I have to wait 3 minutes for the ramen to be ready. I like to eat ramen whenever I'm bored." He practically yelled all that. Naruto smiled brightly and sat down.

Iruka smiled at him and asked, "Any questions?" A girl in the front raised her hand. She turned around, tucked some stray hair behind her ear, and stared pointedly at the newcomer. "Will you date me?" Naruto laughed but said nothing.

A minute later, class resumed. Naruto spent a lot of his time doodling on his paper, Sasuke noticed this. He also liked to fiddle with his jacket, Sasuke noticed. He often stroked the piercing on his ear. Sasuke noticed too. All in all, he observed too much.

He slapped himself inwardly and focused on the things that the teacher was saying, something about…rules…start of school…projects…assignments…he found concentrating quite hard. 'What's wrong with me, I never felt this before.' He exhaled and blamed it on the first day of school.

Sasuke almost sighed with relief when the bell rang. He couldn't keep his ass on the seat a moment longer. He sneaked a peek at the boy in orange and saw he was narrowing his eyes at his schedule, as if having a hard time comprehending the words.

The pale boy leaned silently over the kid's shoulder and suddenly…"That classroom is beside my class." Naruto jumped a foot off the ground. The blonde turned and saw the raven haired boy that he had bumped into earlier behind him. The stoic boy nodded to the blonde.

"Uhm…" was all the blonde managed. Sasuke twitched. They walked together in silence out the classroom, down the hallway until they reached two doors. Sasuke motioned with his hand the class to the left. "That's your class. Don't doodle on your paper, Japanese is hard."

The blonde furrowed his eyebrows but then said "Thanks…uh…sorry I didn't catch your name?" the raven haired teen had his hand on the doorknob of his classroom, back turned to the blonde. "Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." He said without looking at the Naruto, opened the door and stepped in.

"Sasuke…" murmured the blonde to himself. He shrugged and went into his class. At first he thought it was some kind of bomb that went off. But when Naruto looked up he found himself face to face with the most over-enthusiastic not to mention most unusual face he had ever seen.

"Welcome new student! Ah it is such a delight to have a fresh face in the class! I CAN FEEL THE POWER OF YOUTH ON YOU!" Naruto sweat dropped and stared wide-eyed at the thick-eye browed teacher. He had a ridiculous bowl hair cut and he was wearing a…a…a green jumpsuit. Everything he wore was green. His shoes his socks his jacket and Naruto could even picture green boxers beneath all that jumpsuit. He almost slapped himself.

Naruto was still on the floor while the teacher was making his speech on how 'youthful' Naruto looked. "You should be laughing gleefully at the chance you have to be in the class that I, Maito Gai, am teaching! I can bet you by the end of this wonderful school year, you will be so full of youth, you will almost be just as great as I!" The blonde scanned the class with his blue eyes. A lot of the students had their heads down on their tables, or books held upside-down in front of their faces or just simply sweat dropped.

The blonde stood up carefully and brushed himself off, keeping an eye on his crazy teacher. He tried to sneak around the seemingly insane professor but a strong hand caught him and pulled him to his side, squeezing the life out of him.

"You have a youthful smile! Let everyone see that bright smile that touches my heart so deeply! Shine the light of youth throughout the world! Enjoy your youth while you can and let's smile and run towards the sunset!"

The blonde could have sworn that he heard the crashing sea behind him." Now!" Naruto braced himself for more ranting but the teacher simply said, "I am Maito Gai! You can just call me Gai!" then he smiled real big, making his teeth twinkle.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto…" said the blonde. "Alright, you youthful blonde full of energy!" he raised his arm high up in the air and pointed dramatically at an empty seat, "you get the honor to sit beside my prized student, Lee!"

Naruto followed his finger and his eyes widened further when he saw a similar, smaller version of the teacher, sitting with a straight back, and he had obviously been paying attention to everything the teacher said. He also had super-thick eyebrows and those disgusting eyelashes.

Gai led him to his seat but before Naruto could sit his throbbing ass down, a flash of green rushed past him and he turned around to see Lee hugging his teacher. "Gai-sensei! I missed your words of wisdom and great advices during the summer! I have been doing the 600 laps you told me to do everyday! Along with 2000 push-ups before every meal! You were right! Meals taste better after some small exercise!"

"That's right Lee! Oh I'm so glad you did those things I told you to! You are becoming more youthful by the years! I'm so proud of you!" Tears were rolling down their faces as student and teacher embraced.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as he sat back down. The class started 15 minutes late. Naruto had his head on the table. This was going to be a long year.

* * *

After Sasuke escorted the blonde to his class, he stepped in his own class. He wondered if it was too late to warn the blonde about his crazy teacher. Hearing the dynamic voice seconds later told him everything he needed to know.

He walked into his class and sat down in an empty seat. Another student sat down next to him. He didn't realize who it was for he was reading his book. But he noticed something from the corner of his eye. The girl…yes the legs definitely belonged to a girl. The girl was wearing a black mini-skirt and black boots. Her shirt looked…pink. Her hands seem to be resting on her lap. Her nails were painted and decorated with a lot of jewelry.

'Oh no…' somewhere in Sasuke's head, a tiny red flag went up. Sasuke hoped not. He wished he was wrong. He hoped it was not… "Sakura!" squealed a voice, "Oh my god! You are in my class!" Sasuke didn't need to look up to see who it was. He wished his book was bigger so he can hide behind it.

The two squealing girls were from his 'Fan Club'. Sakura was an annoying pink-haired girl that chose to sit to his right. Even worse, Ino, an even more annoying blonde girl sat to his left! He was surrounded, and this was already the back of the class.

He thought his ears were going to explode from their chattering when they stopped all the sudden. Sasuke looked up a bit from his book. Big. Mistake. "Sasuke-kun!" in the distance, one could hear glasses shattering, "You're in our class! Oh my god!" The girls were squealing loudly and discussed the 'exciting' matter.

Sasuke covered his face with his hand and sank low in his seat. They talk so fucking loud. 'Why can't these bitches just shut the hell up?' then he answered his own question as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, 'because they are bitches, of course…urgh…'

Then Ino said in a very high-pitched voice, "God blessed us with this miracle!" Sasuke sank lower in his seat, glowering behind his hand. "God, bless me with a miracle…" he growled to himself. This was gonna be a long, hard year…

* * *

**__**

**_Me and Tesi:_**

Hope you liked it! It's just a wee bit longer but then again, I'm not a person who types a lot :) Sasuke talked too much in my opinion. So, again sorry to all the people who like

Sakura and Ino but it's my story so I've got the power to do anything!

Sasuke: Anything?

Jen: --stares-- When did you come?

Naruto: Hi guys!

Jen: --bewildered-- What are you guys doing here! You're not supposed to be here in this kind of Fic! This story is serious and you're making it too happy!

Naruto: What can you do about it?

Jen: --picks up a pencil, glares at them and writes furiously--

Sasuke: What are you doing?

Jen: --evil smile-- I can do anything so...I'm making both of you dye your hair...pink...

Naruto & Sasuke: --runs--

Jen: I was kidding...

**-UNF**


	4. The Feelings of a Devil

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N:_**_ Sorry about this but I called Sakura a bitch. Because she is… --dodges frying pan-- I never knew that some people liked Sakura and Ino --dodges knives--but at least I'm apologizing :)_

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking_

**Chapter 4: The Feelings of a Devil**

After an hour of ear-splitting, one-sided conversations coming from every direction, Sasuke hurried out of the classroom as fast as he could without running. But walking fast wasn't fast enough. As soon as the raven-haired teen was at the door, hands caught his arm and tugged. The smell of strong perfume wafted to his nose.

Sasuke turned quickly and shoved Sakura off his arm. "Stop following me!" Ino caught up with Sakura at that moment and squealed, "Ah, Sasuke-kun! You're so shy! What's your next class? I can walk with you!"

"I don't want you to walk with me…" Sasuke growled. He looked in his hand. 'Huh? Where's my schedule?' "Oh! Next class he has Choir. That's near our class! We can walk with him!" He heard Sakura's voice and turned around. Sakura was holding his schedule and examining the whole timetable, as if trying to memorize the whole thing.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Sasuke snatched his schedule back and walked away. He ran his hand through his hair to calm down. Exhaling, he looked at his watch. 'Shit I'm gonna be late.' The choir teacher is not someone that will tolerate lateness. Sasuke didn't want to be on her bad side on the first day of school. The raven-haired teen ran down the hall way, down a flight of stairs, onto the third floor.

He was just a minute late, but, "Sasuke! You're late! Go get a tardy slip! I can't believe it, it's the first day of school!" Sasuke growled, swore loudly, and went back down the stairs to the main office.

He went to the front desk and simply said in his dead voice, "I need a slip." The teen was staring at the wall when another, softer voice beside him said, "Um…I need a tardy slip for Anko's choir class."

Sasuke turned around and saw a blonde kid standing beside him. It was Naruto. The blonde turned to him and said with a surprised tone, "Sasuke! What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, idiot?" he said.

"You were late for class? Wow…"

'Sasuke, of all the people got tardy? I thought he was like Mr. Perfect around this school. Well, maybe I can't judge him on the first day…' Naruto was staring at the boy in front of him. He was there yet he looked…unreal. His skin was too flawless. He…knew what he meant except he couldn't…quite…put it into words. Basically, Sasuke looked like a person that jumped out of a manga or a photoshoped picture. Too perfect.

A cough brought Naruto back from his thoughts. He looked up and saw the secretary holding out a slip for him. The blonde took it and walked out of the main office with Sasuke.

"So you got choir…?"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke with those blue eyes and nodded. "I got confused on where I was supposed to go and no one was willing to guide me."

He grinned his stupid grin but Sasuke saw a hint of sadness behind those innocent eyes. The look made him wonder…just a little…but the raven-haired teen was surprised all the same. He had never had so many feelings in one day. Slowly, slowly, he exhaled the smoke.

"…your excuse?"

Sasuke just stared ahead and replied shortly, "Fan girls."

"Oh." Was all Naruto said, as if the answer explained everything.

They entered the choir room together and waited until the whole class had finished the warm-ups. Then, Anko turned to them. "Ah, the late students. If you're late again I'll personally make sure you sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' in front of the whole class ten times."

Naruto shuddered, and Sasuke just grunted and sat down on an empty seat. Naruto looked around for an empty seat. He saw one in the very back where everyone seemed to avoid. The class continued, with Anko explaining the concerts and how she picks the solos. After 45 minutes of boring talk and fidgeting around in seats, a quarter of the class walked out of the classroom in risk of getting detention.

Naruto dreaded lunch, even though his stomach disagreed. All the same, he remembered the memories from his old school. It was something he'd rather forget right now.

He had entered the cafeteria as usual. As soon as he stepped in, the hundreds of whispers in the dining hall died gradually. The blonde had not noticed until he turned around to face a whole crowd staring straight at him.

It was the first day back from the hospital. He had accidentally stepped on someone's shadow. The 'someone' turned out to be the school's major bully. He was beaten up so bad he got sent to the hospital for…oh…a good two and a half weeks. If anyone started describing what kind of injuries he had, it would take a whole class period. (Meaning I won't even go there…)

Anyways, the whole cafeteria was boring holes in his head and just as Naruto thought he couldn't support himself anymore, the bully that had injured Naruto made one gesture that made the whole canteen burst with cold, merciless laughter. She (yes it's a she-bully, even worse for my kitsune) pointed towards the far corner, where two doors stood side by side. One was the broom closet; the other was the filthiest bathroom on earth. It rarely gets cleaned and the toilet looks like… (Never mind I won't go there either)

Naruto was sizzling with embarrassment. He walked very slowly towards the two doors, stomach tight, and he was afraid he would throw up his lunch as soon as it went down his throat. His hand was reaching out for the broom closet knob when something flashed in front of him blocking the door. A guy leaned on the door and jerked his thumb at the door next to him. The blonde gave a look of disbelief and disgust, earning him a fist on the back of his head. He turned slowly and stepped in. BAM!

The door slammed behind him accompanied with the click of the lock. **(1)** That day he hadn't eaten his lunch for he was afraid he'd lose it due to the smell. He was slumped against the wall where he spent the rest of the day until a janitor found him. That day repeated itself for over 3 weeks.

Naruto shivered just thinking about it. But as he stepped into the dining hall **(2)**, nothing happened. No one turned to stare at him. Actually, they looked like they were ignoring him. He was pushed away from the lunch line and the lunch lady forgot to serve him, so he had to go back and line up again.

The blonde didn't even look around in the canteen, for he knew there were no spare seats for him. He strolled to the other side of the cafeteria, opened the door and walked to the field. He sat down on the damp bench just beside the track and started on his sandwich.

'At least I get to eat my lunch' he thought as he sipped on his soda. The bench shifted to the left, then slightly to the right as someone plopped down beside the blonde. Naruto looked up at the newcomer. The redhead doesn't seem to notice him staring. His turquoise eyes were surrounded by black circles, making the blonde wonder just how much sleep he gets. His pale skin was flawless and he looked like he hasn't smiled for a long time.

Naruto just stared. Even though he doesn't show much emotion, this guy looked lonely. Naruto didn't notice that the redhead was staring back at him from the corner of his eye.

"I usually sit here to eat."

Naruto almost jumped off his seat.

"Oh…err… then I'll just…leave…um, sorry…"

Naruto started to stand up when he felt a firm grip on his arm.

"No. You can stay."

* * *

**Me and Tesi:**

I'm so mad at myself argh!!! Fuck! Okay this may be the last chapter I submit for like…2 or 3 days because I'm going back to Brazil for the summer! YAY! Anyway…

_(1) __Some doors are those kinds that have the keyholes on both sides so Naruto can't open in from the inside. _

_(2) __The school and the cafeteria are based on my school. I made it that way so it's easier to write :) _


	5. An Angel’s Guardian

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N_** _Sorry I took so long to update but I've been in Brazil for a week and I had to work every day in the morning 'till three and then I got to go to horse back riding and I don't really have any private time to do this. This story might be short so sorry hehe :P Jean is a character I made up and yeah. Don't hate me for it and don't hate her but even if you do, I can understand. Actually I can't so ha-ha. I like making up characters and I want to use them :) _

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking_

**Chapter 5: An Angel's Guardian **

"No. You can stay."

"Uh…um…no I have to leave anyways. Thanks."

Naruto stood up to leave. He swung his bag onto his shoulder and strolled away with the soda can in his hand.

"I'm Gaara."

Naruto blinked. He turned but saw no one behind him.

"Gaara…" the blonde muttered to himself. As creepy and mysterious the redhead seemed to be, Naruto couldn't help but smile. He knew that the green eyes will look at him coldly always. But behind it he felt that he could find warmth. After throwing his can away, he headed for his next class.

He walked into class early since he barely ate. He sat down in the corner where he would not be easily spotted. He took out his notebook and started doodling. He heard a cough beside him. The blonde looked up and saw a raven haired girl standing beside him.

Her hair was in a messy, high ponytail. Her ears had one too many piercings and she would have looked like a sweet, pretty girl if she wasn't glaring at him with the coldest eyes he'd ever seen. She was athletic, he could tell. She wore short jeans and a striped shirt. All in all, she looked like the kind of girl bully Naruto used to have in school.

Then she did something that almost threw Naruto off his chair. She grinned. "New student?" when she spoke, she spoke with a country accent, **(1)** and she plopped down beside him, "Jean." She held out her hand. Naruto noted that her fingers were painted...black… "Name?"

Naruto took a while to realize she was talking to him. "N-Naruto." He shook her hand and she nodded. Jean fished out a white iPod and started to listen to it. She lay her head down on the desk with her arms under her chin and hummed softly to the song. Her eyes were now half-lidded and she looked really bored.

Naruto didn't even notice when the teacher came up to him and coughed to get attention. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. The teacher was standing in front of him. "You must be the new student." He smirked, much unlike a teacher, "Please pay attention to what I'm talking about instead of staring at a girl. She's not even _that_ attractive." Then he glared at the raven girl and walked away.

"That teacher is a bitch…" whispered a voice beside him. It was Jean. Her eyes were closed, "He's Kabuto, tries to act cool and smirks at ever'thing, but makes his face look constipated. Someday, wanna hack into his computer and show the school board all the porn and online chatting he does during work and hopefully get 'im fired."

Naruto was surprised. He glanced towards the teacher. His back was turned. "He seems like he doesn't like you a lot." He whispered back, not sure she could hear with her earphones on. She sat up and put away her iPod.

"Nope. He hates me. I'm the only person who has ever talked back when he complains about the class. I'm the only person who corrected him when he taught wrong. And I pointed out all the mistakes he did while correcting my test." The bell rang.

The two walked out talking about all the teachers Naruto had and Jean explained what to do to keep himself on the teachers' good side. All along they did not notice that another pair of onyx eyes was watching them.

Sasuke was watching the blonde and the girl talking from some other part of the classroom. He had tried to get near Naruto again but didn't want the girl to see. What made him more frustrated was Naruto and Jean sitting together again during the next class. They shared the iPod and doodled together on a piece of paper.

Jean found out that Naruto liked to draw characters from mangas, action figures and cute little animals. Naruto found out Jean liked to draw body parts **(2)**, eyes, hand positions and people. Sasuke found out that he really wanted to kill the bitch hanging out with the blonde.

When he thought he was really about to go up and whack the raven girl in the head, the bell rang. Naruto and Jean were standing up to leave when Naruto felt a breath on his neck. "Hey," said a voice right behind him. Naruto turned quickly and stared right into a pair of onyx eyes. "Sasuke! You're in my class!" said Naruto. The raven almost slapped himself. He was in all of his classes after lunch goddammit!

"Yeah…um…uh…" said Sasuke, lost for words all the sudden. He was suddenly attacked by a mass of memories. Blonde hair, blue eyes, amazing energy, cliff, jump, cliff, cliff…the cliff…

"Sasuke," Naruto said, "I'm gonna hang out with Jean and she's gonna show me around this place. So…we're gonna go ok?" Naruto smiled and turned to Jean. He was a bit surprised when he saw her glaring at the other raven.

"What the…"

"Tryin' ta break someone else's heart here ain't we?" sneered Jean, "I'm ain't gonna let you do that to me anymore. Don't even try to take him from me, he's my friend. So don't even try to hit on Naruto because it won't work you see?"

"No--" Jean cut him off.

"Oh then are you here to finally apologize for taking away my only friend two years ago? Because I won't forgive you, you know that."

"Hn." grunted Sasuke. He glared at her. Suddenly, he flung a fist at her. She dodged it by just a millimeter. She turned to face him. He stood about half a head taller than her, but she stared into his eyes with amusement.

"My, my, aren't we gayin' it up here?" she smiled…smirked…and walked away.

"What just happened back there? You know him? What happened two years ago? What do you mean hit on me?" Naruto was asking as Jean dragged him out the school. Jean stopped when they were at the school gates.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Arrogant bastard. Two years ago, hit on a friend of mine and broke his heart. Stupid fag. Couldn't cheer him up for five long months. Cried on my shoulder everyday…then…" Jean suddenly looked down, her voice faltering.

"What? What happened?" asked Naruto, suddenly curious.

"He…uh…doesn't matter. It's the past. Let's go. There's this place where students hang out after school. It's really cool." She smiled. Actually, faked a smile, and lead the blonde away.

At the small café, Naruto and Jean were sitting across from each other, sipping on drinks.

"I love the stuff here! Umm! This is good!"

"Ha-ha…this is a great hang out place for the people in our school. We used to come here a lot…"

Naruto stared at Jean; her eyes had a far away look.

**FLASHBACK**_ (yes me ish annoying XD ) _

Jean stopped running, catching her breath. She had been running hard. And now she was here, at the cliff, staring at her best friend.

"Mike!"

The boy turned around and smiled. "Jean…I knew you'd come." He motioned to her to come.

"Mike…" Jean walked over to him slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"You know what happened right?" he asked, holding her hand.

"Yeah…I heard…" then suddenly she hugged him, "You must still feel really bad…I swear I will kill that bastard…"

"No…Jean I have lived to be stepped on from the day I was born. No one takes me seriously, not even the ones I love. But if I do this, they will. They will see that they needed me, but they were too late. I don't want to see them anymore."

"Don't! Don't do it! You're my only friend!" cried Jean, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Tell Sasuke I love him." Jean was roughly pushed to the ground. It was like watching a slow motion movie. Mike dropped backwards down the cliff. He smiled at Jean then disappeared. The thunder. She remembered the thunder. And the rain. Yes, the rain. Down her face, down her neck, on her hands. There was screaming. Minutes later Jean realized it was her own.

**END OF FLASHBACK** (stupid)

"Jean…JEAN!!!" the shout brought the raven back from her thoughts. She looked at Naruto.

"Jean…you're crying…"

The raven wiped her forehead to find it all sweaty. Some half of the café was staring at them.

Naruto stared at her with worried eyes. 'Jean is behaving really weird…' he thought.

"I have to go home. Take care and make sure you can find your way home. See you tomorrow."

Naruto stared after her as she put some money on the table and hurried out the door.

The blonde raised an eyebrow. 'The hell…'

**Me and Tesi: **

Sorry I didn't update. I deserve to be punished! --dodges a piano-- SORRY to all. --dodges a computer--and sorry because this chapter sucks --dodges a phone--sorry because there's made up characters. --gets hit by a fridge, faints and dies--

**(1)** Think of Reese Witherspoon accent in _Sweet Home_ _Alabama_

**(2) **Don't think wrong


	6. Devil Art

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N_** _My brain is turning to mush. Mushy mushy brain. BLEH!!! Disgusting story…me need rest…I'm gonna die…AHHHHH!!! I need ideas to hit me. --wooden boards with the word '_**idea'**_ flies and hits her head-- --wakes up, blinks, types like mad--_

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking_

**Chapter 6: Devil Art**

Next day, Jean wasn't in school.

'It's only the second day of school,' thought Naruto as he went into his art classroom.** (1)** The teacher was late so Naruto sat and doodled as usual. But today, his drawings were different. Each drawing showed either of him visiting a person in the hospital, or kneeling at a grave with a flower in hand.

Then from behind him, a voice said, "What makes you so ominous?" the blonde turned and saw a silver-haired man standing behind him.

"You're pretty good. You're a new student right?What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hm? Okay. Keep drawing. Oh and call me Kakashi." he nodded once and walked away.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'What the fuck…' after a moment, he began drawing again. The blonde wasn't aware that a lean figure had walked towards him and leaned over the table. Then out of nowhere…

"You're in this class." The blonde looked up and almost screamed. Sasuke's face was shoved very close to his. He could smell the odor of burning tobacco.

"Y-Yes…?"

Sasuke was wearing his P.E. uniform. Naruto guessed he will be having P.E. class this morning.

"Hn." he sat down next to him, took out a pretty big piece of paper and began to draw random things. Naruto leaned over, curious. He decided that Sasuke was a pretty fast drawer. First he drew a flower, then a maiden, then a knife, then a voodoo doll…on and on, all so realistic. Naruto was captivated in his illustrations. Sasuke on the other hand, didn't seem to mind that there was someone leaning over his shoulder.

After about ten minutes, however, the train of drawings made a twist. A black rose dripping with fresh blood,_ Sasuke's hand sketched faster_, a man who's lost his eye,_ the hand moved across the paper like it was on fire_, a child killing his mother, a disembodied hand choking the life out of a baby, _the hand didn't stop_, a husband ripping the heart out of his wife,_ his hand flew across the paper_, a child dumping a bloody body into a well, three naked women burning on stake, parts of the skin were peeling off… "STOP!!!"

Sasuke's hand stopped abruptly, halfway through a picture of a woman cutting her wrist, panting slightly. Naruto, who was watching the raven draw, had hopped up to his feet. Sasuke looked up, mouth slightly open. The blonde's azure eyes were brimming with tears, threatening to fall anytime. The whole class was staring at them. Sasuke looked at his paper and realized what happened. Anger erupted. Smashed his cigarette onto the paper, then ripped up the paper and threw it in the trash. Sasuke picked up his bag, swung it over his shoulder and stormed out of the classroom.

After a whole minute of silence, the bell rang. Naruto blinked away the tears and tried to shake off the images that seemed to cling to him as he walked to class.

* * *

Kakashi made sure all the students were out of the classroom before he walked to the waste bin and took out all the ripped pieces of Sasuke's drawing. The cigarette had burnt a hole in it. He then took them to his desk and carefully put them together. The silver-haired man felt a sour burning sensation in the back of his throat. Then he sighed, his eye showing a hint of sorrow. 'Again…?'

* * *

It was lunch time. The blonde walked to the field and sat down on a bench outside. Gaara joined him a minute later. They ate in comfortable silence. Naruto was thinking about the drawings Sasuke did. 'He seems like he has a lot of hate…' he thought. Thinking of the pictures suddenly made Naruto lose his appetite, so the blonde got up first and waved goodbye to the redhead. Gaara looked at him for a moment, turned back to his lunch and raised a hand, to signal his goodbye. Naruto turned and walked away. He didn't notice a pair of eyes watching as he retreated.

* * *

Naruto walked into the classroom, feeling a bit gloomy when he saw the empty seat next to his. 'Jean won't be coming today I guess…' The blonde sat down and doodled on his notebook, waiting for the class to start.

"Oi, idiot."

Naruto's head shot up and stared at the person beside him. It was Sasuke. He had changed from his uniform to blue jeans and a shirt that was unbuttoned at the top. The blonde stared for a second at the top of the shirt then looked up at the raven. "S-Sasuke!" then he furrowed his brows, "Don't call me idiot!"

"Can you meet me after school?"

"Uh…umm…" Naruto's thoughts suddenly wandered back to what happened in the art class.

"What?" Sasuke said, decided to forget the event in the art class, "You don't have time because you have to hang out with uh…what's her name?"

"Jean…she's not here today."

"Oh. Then you can come right?"

"I guess…" he looked away. Naruto had decided that it wasn't Sasuke's fault that he drew differently.

Sasuke smirked and took a step nearer.

"Excuse me but you're in my way."

Both the boys looked up. Standing beside Sasuke, was none other than Jean. She looked tired and she lost her light make up and her ponytail. She was wearing a big white sweater and navy blue shorts. But even though she looked weary, her glare was strong and her voice was firm.

"Get away from my seat. Now." she said through gritted teeth.

Sasuke growled and moved away but not before he leaned in and whispered, "Art classroom. Alone."

'I'll just go for a couple of minutes. Then I'm gone.' Naruto nodded to himself.

Jean sat down next to her friend. "I thought you weren't coming." said Naruto in a hushed voice.

"Didn't I say 'see you tomorrow' yesterday? 'Course I was coming."

The girl took out her music device, but didn't listen to it. She just placed it to one side of the desk and rested her head on her hand, staring ahead. Naruto just put his head down on the table, arms folded under his chin. They listened again and again to the details of the first project they will be doing. They spent most of the class brainstorming ideas on a piece of paper, while the teacher read a book. The book's cover was enveloped in a white paper.

"A pervert book no doubt…" Naruto nodded as Jean whispered to him, "Probably." he whispered back. The bell rang. Students started standing up. Naruto noticed Kabuto walk towards them and nudged Jean. She looked up, shrugged, and turned back to packing her bag. She reached for her iPod but a hand got it first. Jean looked up slowly; Naruto could see anger in his friend's eyes.

"Give it back." She said.

"You were late."

"I was sick. I had a note."

Kabuto ignored and smirked, "Sick?" he started to pocket the little music device. Jean twitched slightly. Naruto was liking this teacher less and less. By now half of the remaining students were watching. "I heard you had a mental breakdown in the café…is it about you're _friend_?" he emphasized the word friend.

Naruto stared. Jean growled. "If you don't mind, I have a class to go to, so please give back my iPod."

"Nope. I keep this. Punishment for being late. It seems precious to you thou---"

There were gasps. There were screams. There were shouts of encouragements. Naruto just stared even more. Jean caught the iPod that had flown out of the teacher's hand casually and placed it back into her bag.

"Let's go. What are you looking at?"

"Huh!? What? You just fucking punched a teacher! What are you talking about!?"

Jean looked at him with a look, and then stared at the fallen teacher. At that moment three teachers ran in. Naruto expected detentions, shouts, and demanding from them. Instead they sighed, walked over to the fallen professor, helped him up and said,

"We told you not to do that. And it's only the second day of school."

Then one of the teachers walked over to Jean and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Principal's office after school. Just a chat."

"Ya…"

Jean turned and dragged a gapping Naruto away.

Sasuke has been watching this whole process that he forgot to get out of class early, resulting in a 'multi-fangirl attack'. "Oh Sasuke-kun! That Jean girl is so horrible!" "Neh, That blonde hanging out with her is sooooo stupid nehh Sasuke-kun?" "Sasuke-kun let's go to break together nehh? I'll get you lemonade?" "Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's ears were drumming. He jerked away and hurried down the stairs to the cafeteria. It was break time. He totally needed that. Sasuke bought a muffin and went to sit in some place where girls can't find him…this task soon proved pretty hard. On every table was at least two or three girls waving and fluttering their eyelashes.

'Disgusting.' Sasuke thought. He looked blankly ahead and walked out to the field. He saw the blonde and the raven girl sitting together on a bench. Their backs were facing him, so he sat in a bench a little ways behind them, trying to listen to their conversation.

"What happened back in the classroom? Why did you…why didn't they…" was all Naruto was blabbering about.

"They…it's because of what happened to my friend. His name was Mike. He…looked a lot like you. Except his eyes were more green and he didn't have whisker marks. I told you about that friend that Sasuke hit on right? Well, they were dating and then one day he found out that the bastard had…sort of cheated on him. Then…um…he…he moved away. Far away. Something like that. He gave me an iPod for my birthday. He was saving up for it. I guess the teachers feel sorry for me for losing my only friend. Everyone in this school knows I was a loner for a real long time."

The girl took out her notebook and began to draw. Naruto was thinking over the things she just told him when he felt a nudge on his arm. He realized Jean was still drawing but she kept on poking the book into his arm. He looked down. In a neat handwriting in the corner of the page were the words:

_Sasuke is behind us. Don't look back. Write on the paper. Now I want to know what he talked to you about before I went to class._

Naruto fought the urge to look back and wrote:

_Ok…Umm…he told me to meet me in the art classroom alone. _

Jean paused to think, then wrote:

_That dick-head. Are you sure you wanna go?_

Naruto wrote:

_I'll only go for a few minutes, see what he wants then we'll go. _

Jean bit her lip. She didn't want to control her friend's life, neither did she want him to get hurt. She thought and wrote carefully:

_I'll go with you and just make sure you don't get molested. Don't worry, I'll just stay outside the classroom and wait for you._

Naruto read it and nodded to her. The bell rang. They got up and left. Sasuke had watched the whole writing thing. 'They must have noticed me.' He got up and walked to class, 'Mike huh…Mike…'

In no time, the last period ended and Naruto found himself walking towards the art classroom with Jean. At the door, Jean stopped, turned around and looked her friend in the eyes. "I give you," she glanced at her watch, "five minutes then you're out of there. If you take more time, I march in and drag you out."

"Okay, okay! It's not like I'm gonna die in there!" he laughed a little and went in.

The lights were dim and the room was cold,** (2)** like it always was. There was a thud. Naruto turned around abruptly and saw that the door was shut. There was a breath down his neck and the blonde shivered.

"Hi."

**Me and Tesi: **

Little tiny cliffy :) I told you guys before that this story is based on my school and just to tell you my school doesn't have bells. Anyways I noticed a mistake on my writing in chapter 4 I said Naruto had soda and in chapter 5 I said milk carton. Just pretend he bought two drinks, like I do :P

FUCK! I fell off the fucking horse during horse back riding because it ran too fast and I lost my balance and hit my shoulder hurts like fuck!!!

**(1) **The schedule changes every other day except for the classes after lunch. Based on my school again.

**(2) **It is. It's like a fridge whenever I go to art.


	7. Ominous Shadows

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N_** _I know now it sounds like it's all about Jean but haha but ya.._

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking_

**Chapter 7: Ominous Shadows**

"Hi."

Naruto froze. The person walked in front of him. (Sasuke? You wish.)

"Okay Sasuke, I'm here. Jean's gonna drag me out in five minutes so make it fast." (Just kidding :P)

"Fine…"

The raven took Naruto by the hand and lead him to the back of the classroom. He opened the back closet and took out his drawing.

_One minute… _

Naruto gasped a little when he set his eyes on the picture of the half finished devil.

"That looks like you…it's very…beautiful," he commented stupidly 'It looks like it's missing something.' then the blonde questioned, "Where is the other half?"

Sasuke looked at him for a moment. Naruto pointed at himself, a bit surprised.

_Two minutes… _

The raven motioned for the blonde to sit. They sat facing each other and Sasuke took out a pencil.

His hand moved in a small curve. He leaned forward and lifted Naruto's chin. He sat back down a sketched some more. He stood up and walked to the blonde.

_Three minutes… _

Naruto blushed, leaned back a bit as Sasuke's cold hand brushed against his cheek. He studied his face, his finger's tracing his jaw line, and his whisker marks. Then he brushed back some of the blonde's hair.

_Four minutes… _

The raven sat back down at his drawing and his hand moved a cross the page once more.

_Five minutes… _

"I have to go…"

The raven didn't look up, but grabbed Naruto's hand instead, tugging on it.

Naruto sat back down. "I really have to--"

"Come tomorrow."

"But--" _BAM!!! _

"Hey."

"Hey Jean, I'm going."

"I have to go principal's. Come with me?"

"Sure."

* * *

"So what did you do in there?" asked the raven girl over a cup of coffee.

"He wanted to draw me. He's really good at art."

"Hm…" the girl rolled her eyes.

"Damn I can't believe a teacher really got moved because of a student." Naruto sighed and slumped in his chair, "What world am I in?"

"That's how things work around here." She shrugged. At least they get another teacher. Hm…come to think of it, she would have gladly showed Naruto how to hack into Kabuto's computer.

"So…what teacher do we have again?" asked Naruto, as he tried some coffee from his friend's cup. He flinched. 'How can she drink this?' he wondered.

"Hmm…I remember the principal said…Oral…Orochi…something, forgot. Who cares? As long as it's not another pervert."

Naruto paled.

* * *

Sasuke slumped slightly in his chair, bashing his spaghetti to mush before bringing it to his mouth and mushing it some more. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"You know, the whole point in having spaghetti is to slurp it and eat it like noodles, not like mashed potatoes." Kakashi said.

Sasuke just kept on mushing and bashing his food, ignoring his teacher.

"Alright," Kakashi leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "what happened?"

Sasuke glared across the table at the older man, then gazed back down at his ruined dinner. "The new student." He murmured, then stood up and dumped his leftovers in the bin.

"Ah…Naruto right? The hot blonde? Yeah…too bad he's a student huh?"

"Pervert."

"Ah, you're welcome."

"I'm leaving."

"Do your homework."

"I will."

"Don't draw nasty stuff all over your worksheets."

Sasuke paused. His hair cascaded over his eyes. He stared at the ground before grunting, "I'm sorry."

He grabbed his bag and hurried out of his teacher's apartment. Kakashi stared after him and sighed. "Poor kid…"

At the bottom of the building, the raven teen turned into a dark alley and emptied his stomach into a garbage can.

Shadows loomed on the damp walls of the little passage. Sasuke turned around to see three dark silhouettes blocking the way out. Sasuke grit his teeth and glared. They advanced and Sasuke backed up.

He reached his hands behind him as he neared the far wall. As he felt the mossy barrier, he knew he couldn't escape. As the figures shadowed over him, the raven took the battle stance.

* * *

"It can't be that bad, I mean, there are a lot of people with the same name out there right?"

"No…" said Naruto as he clutched his stomach, "It's probably him."

They were outside the coffee shop. After Naruto heard the name, he had thrown down his money and bolted out. Jean had run out to catch up with him.

"It's…it's…" Naruto stammered.

"What? What is it?" Jean demanded, crouching next to her friend.

"It's probably that teacher I had…the one in the school I was in….be-before…" Naruto was now stammering so hard, he could hardly speak.

"What?" Jean said, "The teacher I just said? But how can that be?"

"I c-can't…I-I need-d to g-go ho-home…" Naruto trembled.

A freezing wind blew across the street, bringing a sense of foreboding. The voices of the people grew dim, making a lonesome atmosphere. Then the air settled, and the sun shone again, as bright and warm as it had before. Jean shivered at the feeling. She looked around. Something on the other side of the street caught her eye. She blinked. It was gone. The air was thick. It was hard to breathe. Both the teens were panting heavily, fighting for every possible breath.

Naruto had noticed this sudden change of attitude and grabbed her friend's arm. Jean stood up and helped Naruto home. Neither could shake off the feeling that someone was following closely behind.

**Me and Tesi: **

Wahhaa So sorry for not updating…MAN I HATE 8th grade…can't imagine high school So annoying Okay I'm very sorry that this chapter is so short…I'm just very…ah…I don't have a reason…ok you can bash me!


	8. Meet the Angel

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N_** _I'm so not full of ideas…I'm failing as a writer…Long time no update guys! How are you? So...I'm editing a lot of my chapters cuz I actually kinda like this story so ya...Okay umm...I might want to add some more to this chapter but since I love you guys so much, I decided to update! It's actually pretty long, this chapter. Enjoy!_

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking _

_(Text) -- Author's note _

**_(Number) -- Refer to bottom of the chapter for notes_**

**Chapter 8: Meet the Angel**

_"Don't run away…" hissed someone…or something…from the shadows, "Don't even try for I will be where ever you go." A cold, shrill laugh sounded and echoed off invisible walls. It rang and reverberated in the boy's heart. He could still feel his heart vibrating vigorously. A sudden pain shot across his back. He cried out and rolled over on the damp ground. Then a sudden pain rushed up his spine from below. He knew there was a lot of movement above him and he could hear the panting of pleasures but he squeezed his eyes shut and forced the tears back. A hand rushed out from nowhere and slapped him hard across the face. "Cry! Beg for mercy you son of a bitch!" The boy cried, and begged as instructed. A face loomed over him and leaned in closer, the mouth was curved into a very inhuman grin… _

(WHO IS THIS? OMG IS IT SASUKE? OR NARUTO?)

"AHHHHHHH!!!" Naruto shot up from his bed. His bed? What? How had he…? The blonde plopped back down in his mountain of pillows and sighed in relief. It was a dream. Naruto took a few deep breaths, with his hand over his eyes. He turned his head to look at the clock. It was 12:30pm. Does he always wake up this late? Then he rolled over and slumped to the shower.

It has been about a week since the announcement of the new teacher by Jean. The teacher still hadn't appeared though, so they had a substitute take over until he arrived. During that period of time however, Naruto became very edgy and began having bad dreams.

It was a Saturday. He didn't know what to do since he had done all his homework. (Surprise?) All right, he did have a few things he didn't do, but he didn't feel like it. He got dressed, grabbed his keys and walked out the door after shouting, "Bye, mom. Bye, dad." His hand hesitated to close the door, as if waiting for a reply. Then he slowly closed it and locked it.

The sun shone through his bedroom window, falling on the dresser. The light caught the silver picture frame resting on top, the one with the picture of a little blonde boy and his parents smiling happily into the camera. On the bottom of the picture, in a very untidy handwriting, were the words, 'I love you.'

* * *

"Fuck!" Sasuke swore as he tended his wounds. "Damn those bastards…coming back every time just to get beat up again."

Yesterday, he had been cornered by the same group of people again. Of course he escaped, but he was still angry.

He wrapped up the cut on his forearm and threw on his jacket to hide all the other bruises. He walked out of his house, locking it carefully behind him. He had nothing to do really. He could go to school and smoke on the roof. Or maybe he should go to Kakashi's house to eat late lunch. Lunch sounded good. But on second thought, Kakashi would definitely ask about the wounds. So he headed for school. The dogs were at it again, nosing through the garbage for food. The raven raised a leg and kicked on of the mutts in the stomach. It whimpered. Sasuke sighed. He felt nothing. He continued walking.

The sun was shining down brightly, though it wasn't very warm. Everyone was out doing something, going somewhere. Sasuke walked past all the people without glancing up. His purpose was gone. He lost the reason to live. He was just simply there.

* * *

Naruto didn't know how he got there, or more importantly, why. He was just there, on the roof **(1)**, lying on his back on the table, staring at the clouds. How long had he been there? He didn't know. He doesn't wear a watch all the time. He sighed. His mind was working, but his body wasn't, as if a force held him there, as if he was supposed to be waiting for something.

'Maybe I forgot to bring home something and I forgot what it was.' He thought.

Quiet footsteps approached the bench where Naruto was. It paused, noticing the person on the table. The blonde twisted his head back, glancing at the person. (It's SO Sasuke…right?)

"Gaara!" (Wrong…)

"Uzumaki."

"What are you doing here?"

"…it's my spot…"

(Why does Naruto always take Gaara's spot?)

"Oh!" Naruto hopped up immediately, his body suddenly working. The redhead sat down on the table, feet on the bench below, took out a cigarette, popped it in his mouth and offered one to Naruto.

"No thanks, I don't smoke. I hate anything to do with…smoking…"

Gaara stared at him for a moment, and then put his cigarette back in the box.

"You're not going to smoke?"

"I respect people who don't smoke **(2)**, and if you don't want to smoke, there is no point in respecting that if you breathe in my second-hand smoke."

Naruto…gaped. That was the longest sentence he had ever heard Gaara say.

"Well, sit down."

Naruto sat down, staring at the ground. They sat like that in silence for what seemed like a long time. He had known Gaara for over a week now, but he still felt distant to him. He sat with him every lunch and ate in silence. Then after school, he would go to the art class and meet Sasuke.

Naruto could swear that Jean was bursting in earlier than before. It also didn't help that Sasuke sometimes would spend a whole minute just looking at him. So the drawing was still incomplete. Sasuke…Naruto's mind wandered. Gaara stood up suddenly, put his hands in his pocket and said, "I'm going."

"Huh?"

Gaara turned and stared at the blonde, observing him. Naruto looked down, uncomfortable under the intense gaze. Suddenly, Gaara swooped down and kissed Naruto in the corner of the mouth. Naruto yelled out, surprised. Gaara stood up again and walked away. Naruto stared after him, the word 'WTF' plastered clearly on his face.

'He'll never be mine…I can't give him what he wants…'

The blonde boy didn't know how long he had just sat there, dumbfounded.

"Do you always stare into space like that?" a voice from behind startled the blonde. He turned around quickly to see Sasuke walking towards him, with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He plopped down beside the blonde, took out the cigarette and exhaled. Naruto held his hand over his nose and mouth, leaning away from the smoker.

"Does it bother you?" not waiting for a reply, he dropped his cigarette and stomped on it. Naruto was confused. In one day, two guys have stopped smoking because of him.

"What you doing here?"

"None of your business, idiot."

For the first time since he came to this school, Naruto stayed quiet. He was entranced by the image before him. Sasuke was sitting beside him with one knee up on the table, the other foot on the bench. He was staring out into space, eyes profound, as if deep in thought. A light breeze caught his black hair, making it dance across his face. The late afternoon sun dyed the sky red and the clouds orange and the birds just had to fly by, making this scene (once again) look like something out of a manga (or anime).

"Attractive, huh?"

Naruto blinked. Sasuke was glancing sideways at him with those deep, dark eyes. Naruto felt like he could fall in that mysterious abyss and never come back. Sasuke was momentarily lost in those ocean-blue eyes. Then he snapped back to reality. Sasuke realized what he was doing and turned away, looking into the distance. Naruto looked down. No words were exchanged between them, yet the silence wasn't uncomfortable in any way.

The sun rays slipped away on the west. The evening air cooled. A star twinkled on the blue-orange sky. The two boys closed their eyes and breathed in the cool air and for a moment, they forgot where they were, and it was just the two of them.

Sasuke felt the table shift. He turned to see the boy beside him lie down with his arms crossed behind him. His face was relaxed and his features were more angelic than he'd remembered. The raven subconsciously reached out to touch the other boy's face. His fingers caressed the thin scars on the smooth tan skin. Suddenly, he stopped and pulled back his hand quickly, as if he was electrocuted. He relaxed as he realized the blonde boy had fallen asleep.

Sasuke stepped down from the bench carefully and shook the sleeping boy slightly. He didn't budge. He shook some more. Naruto whimpered. SMACK!

"OW!"

"Better go home before the crows come and make a nest on your head."

"Hm! Yea, yea whatever."

Sasuke looked back at Naruto, and then started walking away.

"Oi! Sasuke!"

Sasuke paused. "What?"

Naruto blushed, even though the boy wasn't looking at him. "Can you…help me with homework? I didn't finish it…"

"……tomorrow. I'm tired."

"Huh? Oh. See you then."

"Hn."

* * *

He knew he should have asked Jean for help. She wasn't stupid or anything. But at that moment, he just felt like asking Sasuke. Something about him attracted him. Something he couldn't point out. It might be the mysterious glances. Or the hair. Or the tone of talking. Or…'WHY do I keep _thinking_ of him!?'

* * *

"I don't get it!"

"You really _are_ stupid."

Sasuke leaned close to the blonde over his homework. He pointed out where the boy had gone wrong and explained how to make it right. Naruto half listened, half savored the smell of the other boy. Sasuke saw that the boy didn't mind the closeness, and slowly put his arm over the other boy's shoulder, while his other hand was writing some markings on Naruto's paper. Naruto's heart pounded furiously.

'What am I thinking? He's just a friend, helping with my homework!'

An hour passed before Naruto finally understood what to do.

"Thank you so much!" Naruto jumped and hugged Sasuke. Naturally, the raven blushed madly. He muttered a few inaudible things and pushed the blonde boy off. A normal person would've been lying on the ground, half-dead if they ever tried that.

"You better, since I took my precious time teaching someone like you."

Sasuke turned to go out, when something glinted on the dresser. He reached out and took the picture frame. He stared at it. Naruto turned around when he heard Sasuke take something. He froze. He forgot the picture. He never had anyone over at his house, he forgot to hide it.

"They…are your parents…right?" Sasuke whispered.

"…yes…"

"Where—"

"Dead."

"…"

"How do you live here then?"

"The…money they had left..."

"Why—"

"You don't have to know everything do you?"

"…"

Sasuke dropped his arms and walked over to the other boy. Naruto's head was drooped down, not meeting his eyes. Sasuke reached out and slowly pulled the blonde into a hug. The blonde didn't pull back; instead, he wrapped his arms around the other boy.

They stood there in each others arm for god knows how long. Soon, the raven's shoulder was wet. He didn't care. He pulled back and looked at his blonde classmate.

"See you in school." He leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and left. The blonde boy kept standing, mouth slightly open. Then he quickly jumped for the phone and dialed the first number he could think of.

* * *

Jean was sitting on her bed, reading a book that was about the size of a dictionary. The phone rang and she picked it up.

"About time you called."

"Jean I need to tell you something, but not over the phone."

"Okay…you know what, why don't you come over? No ones home 'cept me."

"Yea okay!" and he quickly hung up.

Jean went back to reading, the phone still in her hand. She was counting in her head. '4…3…2…1…' The phone rang again. She picked it up on second ring.

"Forgot something?"

"Uhm…heh…where do you live?"

Jean laughed.

* * *

Naruto rushed out of the house without even bothering to lock the door.

'I've never had a girlfriend, I've never wanted to look at girls, I never found them appealing, and I blush whenever he gets close…oh my god, oh my god!'

Naruto's head was bursting from too many thoughts. He reached Jean's apartment and pressed the doorbell. The door opened and he ran up the stairs where Jean was waiting for him.

"Well you look handsome." Jean said raising an eyebrow.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at himself. His orange sweatpants were wrinkled and twisted to the side. His white shirt was on backwards _and_ inside out. His hair was untidy and his shoe laces were untied. He laughed a little and went in.

His friend was wearing black jeans and a long, tight shirt pulled over it. She let him to her room and they both sat on the bed.

"Spill."

"I…Jean…"

"…"

"I might…"

"Yea?"

"I am…I mean…"

"…"

"I think I'm gay." Naruto shut his eyes. (WOW, can you believe how slow he is? Of course he's gay! He's been gay all along!)

"Is that it?"

He opened them. "What do you mean?"

"It's very obvious you know."

"Huh?"

"I knew you were gay the first day I saw you. There are a lot of gay people around here you know."

"What?"

"Don't worry, I still like you. I mean, I'm all for the homosexuals. I'm bi-sexual, by the way, meant to tell you earlier."

Naruto was gaping.

"I once did a speech on how same-sex marriage should be allowed. You should have seen their faces. The whole class was gaping at me, and I got full marks. **(3)**"

"What do I do? I'm gay!"

By now Naruto was on his feet, pulling at his hair, walking around in circles.

"I don't know. But hey, there's nothing wrong with being gay. Don't tell me you don't like it; because I'm gonna beat you up if you do."

"But…" he looked away, "what would my parents think…"

"Hey…come here," she stood up and put her hands on his shoulders, "If they loved you at all, they would support you with all they've got." Sometimes Jean sounded older than she was.

"…"

A mischievous smile crossed her face, "Do you have someone in mind?"

An equally mischievous smile crossed his face, "Maybe…"

"Who?"

"Can't tell you yet."

"Sure, take your time, kid."

Naruto thanked her friend and went home with his shirt on the right way.

Jean smiled and waved. Then she settled down in her bed again. She sighed and rubbed her face. 'Sasuke, huh?' (OMG how did she know?!)

**Me and Tesi: **

**(1) **In our school the art classrooms for Middle School and High School are all on the fourth floor. The roof is also on the fourth floor, because the pottery stuff and furnace are outside. There are also two tables there. It's like a two meter long one meter wide table with a long bench on either side attached to it. We usually sit on the table instead of the bench though. When I have free time, I lie length-wise on the table and watch the clouds…I fell asleep once lol…

**(2) **People who smoke don't necessarily like to smoke. I hate people who smoke. Way to go Gaara!

**(3) **That little speech story is mine, I really _did_ a persuasive speech on same-sex marriage while everyone else did stuff about animals and gangs and not smoking crap…anyways and when I looked up in the end, a lot of my classmates were gaping with their mouths open and so was the teacher. I got full marks.

Yay! Long chapter! It's winter break! YEAH!!! Okay review my darlings LOL! I apologize again that I didn't update more :( But here you go XD !

**_EDIT:_**

(I'm not shouting, it's cuz it makes it easier to see when it's BIG)

**_REVIEW REALLY HELPS THE UPDATE! I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE WHO JUST READ THE STORY, LIKE IT, AND LEAVE! I LIKE REVIEWS! GIVES ME MORE MOTIVATION TO WRITE! WHY DID THIS CHAPTER COME OUT LATE? BECAUSE TO LITTLE REVIEWS! IF YOU LIKE IT, REVIEW! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, REVIEW!_**

I sound mean! Sry But reviewing does help makes me happy

**-UNF **


	9. Break My Wings

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N_**

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking _

_(Text) -- Author's note _

_**(Number) -- Refer to bottom of the chapter for notes**_****

**Chapter 9: Break My Wings **

'He probably freaked out…maybe he's still standing there, wondering what happened.' Sasuke was still thinking about the kiss. It was just a small peck and it barely lasted a second…yet his lips were still tingling. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a box, tapped it, and took a cigarette in his mouth. Then he searched himself for a lighter. The old man was knocked off balance as Sasuke walked into him. "Young man…" The raven turned. No one. Only a little match box in the middle of the road.

A force directed his hand. He took out one of the two matches and struck it. His dark eyes watched as the fire sparkled to life. He brought the fire close to light and then…he stopped in his tracks. His hand paused. His eyes remained on the fire. A sudden gust of wind roared by, making the fire dance and die. Sasuke dropped the match and took the cigarette out of his mouth.** (1) **

* * *

Naruto was scared. He was also excited. He was being very jumpy on his way back home. He knew he was gay. (Like, duh!) Now he had some researching to do. The sun shone like always. The blonde boy stuffed his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath. Maybe he should get an earring in his other ear also. Gosh. His thoughts were all jumbled up, like any other idiot's thoughts. But…a tiny flare of hope lit up in his head. His stomach was fluttering and he couldn't help but smile.

He was just turning the corner when the same feeling of apprehension poured through him. The small fire that was burning faded. A freezing wind blew across the street, bringing a sense of foreboding. The voices of the people grew dim, making a lonesome atmosphere. Then a voice seemed to float through the air, echoing off unseen walls, a voice so chilling, so bloodthirsty, so evil…**---I found you…---**

Then the air settled, and the sun shone again, as bright and warm as it had before. Naruto looked around and around. It was as if the world was spinning against him. His head felt light. His feet were not there. The people disappeared. His head spun against the whole world…and in a matter of seconds, he found himself running, his visions blurring, his senses numbing, his surroundings fading. His chest was bursting, his head was pounding.

'He can't! He can't! He can't! No! It can't be! No, no, no!' He neared his retreat, but it stretched, far, far away. He reached and nearly crashed into his door when he stopped in front of his apartment. His trembling hands fumbled with the keys, dropping them four times before getting the right one, trying three times to get the door open.

The blonde threw open the door, burst inside, and slammed it shut. The crash resonated through the empty house. And then it was once again filled with the disturbing sound of silence. "Mom, dad!" Naruto ran to his room, slipping and sliding on the wooden floor. The picture frame was where he had left it, on the bed. Naruto jumped on his bed and hugged the treasure to his chest. "I'm home…"

The blonde boy sat on his bed for a long time, clutching the picture frame, with his eyes closed. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he didn't hear the door creak open…

* * *

**Me and Tesi: **

HA so it ends here! CLIFFHANGAH!!! Surprised? Yeah but you shouldn't be! I got so little reviews neh D: Me ANGRY!!! So I made it short!—gets knocked out by a…LAPTOP?!— Ha ha! Bye byes see ya next time!

**-UNF **

**……………….. **

**…………… **

**………. **

**……………….. **

**…………… **

**………. **

**(Do you really think I'd actually leave you shocked little sheep here to stare into space? I'm not that mean! But I might do this someday neh?) **

The footsteps creaked on the floorboards, slow and cunning…Naruto turned with his back to the door, with his legs up against his chest. The footsteps got closer, faster, yet making less noise, a skill only a certain someone can achieve…Naruto was falling asleep when a hand reached out from nowhere…

"AH!"

"Shut UP!"

"AAAAHHH!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"You!"

"What?!"

"Jean? How'd you get in here?"

Jean made a 'huh' face. "You didn't lock your door. It's dangerous to do that nowadays ya know?"

The blonde boy sighed in relief. "Thanks. Why'd you come here? Do you want anything? Noodles, coffee or…that's all I have…"

"Man, you lead a healthy life." Then his friend shrugged, "I had a feeling that you would need me."

He smiled, "Yeah, well, I kinda needed company anywa—"

Again, out of nowhere, that chilling, that most unsettling voice rang through the empty house like a roar of wind. Jean looked around. "Is there a window you left open?"

Naruto looked panicked, "Um…probably…"

They kept talking. Jean was determined to do some shopping for her friend. Neither noticed that while they were talking, slowly, gradually, a slight wave of air blew across the floor, growing, growing, growing, rising, rising, until the room was resonating with the howls of the wind.

Jean stood suddenly and looked around. "What is it!? What's this?" She never looked more panicked.

A voice seemed to be repeating itself over and over and over and over…**---Out…--- **

Naruto leapt to his feet and shouted, "No! Go away! She has nothing to do with me!"

His friend stared at him. He quickly grabbed her by the hand and ran to the door as fast as he could. Then he opened it and pushed her out with such force that Jean fell back and hit the floor.

"Jean, run away. Run away now! Before he gets you!"

The raven was speechless. She didn't move from her spot on the floor. Cars roared by. One two, one two, one two, six cars, seven cars, eight, nine.

"Now!" The urgency in Naruto's voice scared her. She stood up and ran, looking back at the blonde boy.

Naruto slammed the door shut, locked it, and sank to the floor. As the wind died, an object dropped and slid to the boy. It was the picture frame. The glass was cracked, separating the boy and his parents. The boy was no longer smiling. Naruto stayed crouched against the door for hours, and as the clock struck one, he fell into uneasy sleep.

In his dreams, a sound, a voice, whispered, the same voice hissed out in the darkness,_ "Don't run away…" hissed someone…or something…from the shadows, "Don't even try for I will be where ever you go." A cold, shrill laugh sounded and echoed off invisible walls. It rang and reverberated in the boy's heart. A sound he cannot escape. Over and over again. Laughter. From all directions, echoing, calling, pounding. Laughter, pounding, hisses, murmur, run, run, run. Aching, blood, shouts, faces, over and over and over and over…_

* * *

The next day, Naruto didn't show up at art class, and no one in P.E. had seen him. Jean was worried. She had free second period, **(2)** and she had asked the people in Naruto's second period class if he is in the locker room at all. No one had seen him all morning. Damn she was worried, she knew she shouldn't be, and though she looked calm, sitting in the library browsing through a book on the Opium War, in her mind, she was panicking. Naruto didn't look right yesterday. 'Just wasn't right…wasn't acting right either…'

The words in front of her were starting to scramble. Not one sentence made any sense. Not one word made it into her brain. The words disappeared in a blur of gray. She kept staring at it, trying to focus…focus…concentrate…BAM! She shut the book. She can't concentrate on her research. 'I have all week, no worries.'

The raven put the book on the table and used it as a pillow. She put her earphones on and laid her head on her arms. The music hummed in her ears. Her mind cleared and she drifted off…The study room door opened five minutes later. Jean didn't look up. The person sat down. Whoever they were, they weren't very good at starting conversations, nor were they very polite either. Jean peaked through the hole between her arms. She was surprised, though as usual, she didn't show it. (God she sounds like an Uchiha doesn't she?)

"What are you doing here?"

"Studying."

"…"

Both ravens sat in awkward silence. After what seemed like an hour, Jean picked her head up from the table. She did not look at Sasuke, but stared at her arms.

"You…like Naruto right?"

Sasuke wasn't expecting that, but he just kept reading.

"Actually, he likes…" Jean took a deep breath, holding her tongue from going too far. She can't…"He…H-he deserves better."

She stood up and went out of the library. Sasuke's face remained indifferent.

* * *

English class. No Naruto. Damn. Jean sat alone. Her hand was half-way in her bag when a very peculiar man walked in. His black hair flowed past his shoulders. His face was so pale, he blended with the white board behind, and, if Jean was not seeing things, he strongly resembled a snake. The man licked his lips and chuckled to himself. Jean felt cold all of a sudden. Freezing. The voice, the laugh…so familiar.

The classroom grew so quiet, that the dialing of the locks, ticking of the clocks and the breathing of the trees were like thunder claps.

He opened his mouth, the grin never leaving his face, his voice smooth and cunning, rolling off his tongue, "My name is Orochimaru. I am your new English teacher."

Jean gasped. Her stomach churned. The class remained quiet. So very quiet. The professor's gaze lingered on the empty seat and roamed through the back row. Jean felt his look, and suddenly felt sick. She looked away. She couldn't face him. She looked up at Sasuke. His pale face was impossibly paler. He leaned back in his chair, as if trying to escape the man's aura. The man chuckled again. He was staring with great interest at the raven boy. Then…the back door opened. And Naruto stepped in. He froze. The atmosphere was so thick with dread, it was hard to breathe.

The teacher smiled. That cold, merciless grin. A grin of triumph. Naruto fell to his knees.

**

* * *

Me and Tesi:**

**(1)** It is not easy to quit or stop smoking! So to smokers, gather some will power and stop yourself from lighting a cigarette! And to non-smokers, don't even try to smoke! NEVER EVER try to smoke, and avoid second-hand smoke.

**(2)** We have free periods called FIST or flexible independent study time…I think. And in high school it's called FLEX

I am sorry it's short but I'm very busy here, first week back and I have to worry about the Musical also...so I'm PRESSURED!

**-UNF **


	10. Angel Nightmares

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N_** To tell y'all the truth, I don't like this story at all anymore. I don't even FEEL like continuing this story…I don't feel like anything…I feel like shit…I feel like my life has been snatched up, tossed around by the little sixth and seventh graders, thrown half way across the world, landed in the ocean, chewed up by ten meter sharks and embedded in the deepest darkest hole in the world. So I do feel like something after all.

**_Warning: _****_THIS CHAPTER FUCKING SUCKS BALLS!_**_****_

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking _

_(Text) -- Author's note _

_**(Number) -- Refer to bottom of the chapter for notes**_****

**Chapter 10: Angel Nightmares **

_It was so dark down here; anyone could be fooled to think they were blind. There was no light, just like his tragic life. 'Living isn't easy,' echoed a soft tinkling whisper that seemed to flow through his bloodstream, 'it isn't easy.' And then the voice wavered and disappeared. _

_He turned in every direction trying to find it, to bring it back, to feel that warmth again. All he felt was darkness. He wanted home. 'But you can't…' another voice chuckled, 'you have no home.' He knew it was true. It had always been true. So agonizingly true, it was so painful. He needed to get away. 'I can make the pain go away…come…' echoed the unnerving voice. He crawled, following that low whispering voice. He knew it was impossible, that the pain won't go away, but he wanted to believe that just this time, it will. _

_He could feel the cold floor under him, the movement above him, and the pain that shot through his body. The times that he was left cold and naked on the ground, crying himself to sleep and it never came. Sleep didn't come, nothing came, no one came. No one cared. _

_The boy hated it. It did not do what it was meant to do. The boy was lying once again where it was so dark, anyone could be fooled to think they were blind. There was no light, just like his tragic life. 'Living isn't easy,' echoed a soft tinkling whisper that seemed to flow through his bloodstream, 'it isn't easy.' And then the voice wavered and disappeared. _

_

* * *

_

The teacher slowly paced over to the fallen student and spoke, "Uzumaki Naruto…what a pleasant surprise."

The blonde boy did not look up, but squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed deeply. He stood up shakily and walked to his desk. The teacher walked by him as he sat down and a small draft chuckled in his ear, mocking him.

Then in a second, the teacher's attitude completely changed again, "I am going to be strict, and harsher than the previous teacher." He said while walking to the front of the class, "I will give you homework over the weekends and there will be stacks of it. I don't listen to complaints and the homework and projects are due on the day as soon as you walk in or else it's an F. No excuse."

Damn near everyone groaned and booed. At least, that's what they wanted to do. In reality, the class stayed relatively quiet and still. A fidget or a breath felt like it was the last.

Naruto sat shivering through the entire class, paying little attention to the subject, and concentrated on staring at his pencil. Just staring at his pencil. Nothing else. Not even thinking. Not even breathing.

* * *

Everyone had a release. Naruto had one. He did not cut himself though. He ran. He just ran like crazy, like his life depended on it, and it kind of did.

As the bell rang, the blonde dashed for the door. He tore down the hallway and down to the field, through the parking lot and down the street, through the park and on and on until he tripped on his shoelaces and fell. He wasn't crying. He just sat there on the ground, catching his breath. His lungs burnt, his calves ached, his vision blurred.

* * *

Sasuke didn't have time to ask what happened, partly because Naruto ran so damn fast and partly because he was running just as damn fast to catch up. The raven stopped a few meters from where the Naruto had collapsed. He bent over, gasping for air. He paced over to the fallen kid and put a hand on his shoulder. When Naruto looked up, he didn't see tears, as he had expected, but a mixed expression of emptiness, surprise and fear.

Sasuke pulled his classmate into a tight embrace. Right now, it didn't matter that he had just ran out of the school without permission, missed class and is in some unknown street miles away from school. He felt like time had stopped and at that moment, Naruto was more important than anything else. He vaguely noticed Naruto wrap his arm tightly around him as he stood up.

* * *

"How could you? Was there a good enough reason for all three of you to run out of school at the same time? Skipping classes, jumping over the fence? This is absolutely unforgivable, it's degrading, and it breaks the rules…"

An hour later found three breathless teenagers under the fire-breathing principal's nose. None of them were paying much attention to what he was spitting out of his ugly mouth and none of them really cared. It wasn't like they could convince him somehow to throw the new teacher out. And even if they tried, they wouldn't have succeeded, for no one could interrupt the principal in the middle of his lecture.

So they just sat there, staring at the floor, willing time to move faster.

The door swung open so suddenly that the principal shut his mouth. At the doorway stood Orochimaru, wearing that hideous smirk and those poisonous eyes. He strode over the principal and they spoke in hushed voices for a second, before the principal sat up again, pointed at the blonde and motioned for him to go with the new teacher. Naruto grabbed on tight to Jean's hand and squeezed so hard, he could hear something pop. Jean squeezed back.

"Come. We don't have all day."

The blonde stood up slowly and followed him out the door. The teacher stopped him outside the office and placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto stiffened.

"I get this idea that you don't like me very much. I don't know why and I don't want to know. Maybe I am very strict, but you will have to pay attention in class so I won't have a reason to purposely fail you. Got it?"

The blonde nodded his head. The teacher walked away with a small smirk.

* * *

It was Wednesday afternoon. Naruto sat cross-legged on his friend's bed, sorting through piles of homework. He had been wondering why the teacher had not done anything to him yet. Not that it's a bad thing. Maybe. He wasn't sure what this freak had up his sleeves now. Every time he walked into the classroom, Naruto would immediately look down at his hands and stop breathing. The atmosphere was always so tense.

"…so after you take away this from that, you get the quadratic formula. Then…Naruto? Hey! Hon, stay focused!"

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts, turning back to Jean, who had been teaching him some basic Algebra that he should have already known ages ago.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Kid, you've been like this forever. Snap outta it, will ya?"

"Sorry, sis, but it's just…"

"Alright…after you get the formula, you substitute…"

Naruto stared at the textbook, not really seeing it. His thoughts wandered to Sasuke. He finally finished the drawing of the half angel, half demon. Naruto thought back to two days ago, when the drawing was revealed to him.

_"…and so Gai gave me an A- just because I had the word youth in my essay…" _

_"Some teachers…" _

_"Yeah, I know right? At least there's something I **won't** fail this year." _

_Sasuke looked up at the blonde, staring at him intently for a few seconds, then looked down on his paper, sketching something quickly. Naruto smiled. After a minute or two, he looked up at Naruto again. _

_"It's done." _

_"Really? Can I see? Is it good?" _

_"No. You can't." _

_"What? Why not?! I let you draw me! Hey c'mon, your being a bitch here! Let me see!" _

_"We need a trade." _

_"Trade? Whazza hell?" _

_"Hmm…kiss me first." _

_"WHAT!?" Naruto's heart began pounding furiously. His face flushed. His stomach fluttered. 'Kiss him? Is he serious?' _

_"Yeah. Kiss me." Sasuke leaned down and hooked his lips to Naruto's. With one hand, he gently pushed the blonde closer to him. Naruto's thoughts jumbled and his heart pounded faster. Sasuke then very slowly and carefully slid his tongue across Naruto's lips. Naruto gently opened his mouth, letting Sasuke's tongue slide in his mouth...then suddenly, Naruto gasped and pulled away. _

_"Uh…I think…we should stop…Jean will be here any time now." _

_Sasuke kept on staring at Naruto's lips, "It's okay…" _

_Sasuke leaned down again and gave Naruto another kiss, a long one. Naruto savored it, tasting tea and something sweet. Weird, Sasuke didn't like sweets. _

_Sasuke pulled away, savoring the taste of heaven on his lips. He held out the drawing to Naruto. Naruto took it and stared. _

_In the drawing, there was one figure, but two different people. The figure was split down the middle, the right half showed a dark haired, obsidian-eyed devil, staring emptily in front of him, his eyes betraying the emotion of hopelessness. His mouth seems to be trying to say something, but is held back by the despair he felt. His black robes were hanging on his shoulders, spilling across the fiery hells beneath his feet. His wing was hard and dead black, with sharp edges on every end. In his hand, he held a devil's pitchfork, while also clutching his chest, over his heart…the heart on the left side.** (1)** _

_The left side angel. The beautiful creature was every bit different from the devil. He had unruly blonde hair, sticking out every, but still had a soft, silky quality to it. His eye showed the unmistakable hint of happiness and hope. His mouth was smiling, saying the words of comfort and guidance. His arm was gently placed on top of the devil's hand on his heart, as if trying to comfort him. The halo over his head glowed a warm glow, his soft, feathery wings extended into the heavenly sky above, his long white robes billowing in the soft breeze. _

_Naruto was in awe. He was stunned at how Sasuke managed to make him look so much like an angel. 'If he only knew…' he thought. _

_"What do you think?" _

_"I…I…I'm speechless…it's indescribably beautiful. It's the most wonderful piece of art I've ever seen!" _

_"…" _

_"You really are…" Naruto turned around and planted a soft kiss on Sasuke's lips. _

_Neither noticed the art room door open a crack. Jean was peaking through. It had been past half and hour and she was still standing there. Jean wanted to go in and yank her friend out, but…she couldn't…not with that look on his face. The look of…so much happiness and hope and...she just couldn't bring herself to spoil the moment. _

"Kid, you have to snap out of it! Hey, Hon! Wakey-wakey, c'mon, boy! Do I have to smack you?"

"Huh?"

"…you were thinking about him?"

"No!" Naruto blushed, "What makes you think that?"

"You had that stupid grin on your face…and all your worries disappeared from your eyes..." She narrowed her eyes, "You were thinking about him."

(Insert long and awkward silence.)

"I told you a hundred million times, that guy is bad luck. He's not someone you would want to date."

"Look, sis," Naruto sighed. He already knew Jean did not approve of Sasuke. But he really liked him. A lot. "I like him, okay? But I know you're worried about me. I…"

"I really don't like it." She said, staring at her book.

"You're being too protective over me! Why can't I just…URGH! What are you my _mom_?! FUCK! You have got mental issues."

"Disappear, kid!"

"Goodbye!"

Jean flopped down on her bed and tried to study for her test. _Tried_, that is. She couldn't. So she got up and…sat down again. She didn't know what to do. She suddenly felt so tired. Her head was blank and lagging. So she lay her head down, trying to catch some sleep.

Turns out, she never caught it.

**Me and Tesi: **

** (1)** No shit.

HOLY SHIT, EVERYONE! I'M SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT AND IT GOES NOWHERE! THIS CHAPTER FUCKING SUCKS BALLS! I'M SO FUCKING SORRY! THE MUSICAL IS A LITTLE LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY AND I HAD LIKE SO MANY TESTS AND I HAD TO APPLY FOR MY SUMMER SCHOOL AND I'M SO STRESSED! ARGH! Fuck. Okay. I'm coming down with a fever. The fever has the symptoms of not wanting to write FanFics anymore. Someone tell me the name of this fever please, so I can go to the doctor.

**P.S.:** You guys have to read my profile if you want to know anything about what's going on with me and my story.

**-UNF **


	11. Falling

**Living It Hard **

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Naruto :(

**_A/N_** I went to the doctor and they told me I had to take a break from writing and concentrate on other things before I get back into So I read a lot of FanFics and sketched some crap and…uh…well…drank loads of water. But the doctors didn't tell me what kind of fever I have. So I started to listen to my music really loud and emo. And I'm partially healed :D! But I am very disappointed that only one person reviewed my last chapter :(

_'Text' -- Thinking_

_"Text" -- Talking_

_(Text) -- Author's note_

_**(Number) -- Refer to bottom of the chapter for notes**_

**Chapter 11: Falling**

It was six o'clock when Naruto left Jean's place. He forgot to take his textbook with him. How dumb. He kicked a pebble off the sidewalk. Naruto paused as it landed on someone's shoe. And that someone turned out to be Gaara.

"Hey…what are you doing here?" the blonde asked.

"Fresh air." Was the short reply.

"Oh..." after a moment of silence, Naruto asked, "Mind if I walk with ya?"

The red-head grunted softly and continued walking. Naruto trudged along beside him, looking at the ground. The same boring ground that has been there for god knows how long, being stomped on by god knows how many pairs of feet.

"You seem upset." Gaara stated.

"Kinda, yeah."

"…about Uchiha? Or the girl?"

"A bit of both…" mumbled the blonde.

"Tell me."

Naruto looked up, stunned. Gaara didn't seem like a guy to ask about someone's personal life. Naruto chose to stay silent and Gaara didn't really seem to mind. They strolled on and somehow, while looking at the ground all the time, ended up in front of Naruto's apartment.

"Uhm…well I guess…do you want to come in?"

Gaara raised an eyebrow. Naruto stood awkwardly for a moment, decided to take it as a 'yes', and ushered Gaara inside. Naruto grabbed two cups and poured some water inside. He handed the cup to Gaara and sat down beside him on the couch.

"So…what happened?"

Naruto fiddled with his cup before he opened his mouth and told Gaara about the sketches of him and how Sasuke had kissed him and about Jean's dislike of the raven and his storming out of her house.

"---and I really, really like him but I just can't put up with Jean and her overprotective-ness and sometimes I just want to yell at her and slam the door at her and...but then I just can't stand that look on her face whenever she thinks of Mike and I just…I'm just torn between these two people. It makes no fucking sense…"

Gaara sat beside the blonde looking down at him with that never-changing expression of his. Naruto sat with his head down, staring at the floor. A glint caught Gaara's attention. A picture frame on the table twinkled back at him. He reached over and took it, examining the cracked glass. The boy in the picture was so different from the teen sitting beside him. And the couple embracing him…

"My parents are dead." Came the faint whisper.

Gaara looked at Naruto with no particular expression on his face. And then he looked back at the picture.

"They died a little after I started second grade. It was the year that I had a real birthday party. It was simple. A small cake and candle, my parents, and presents from both of them. We went out to eat in McDonalds. I remember getting a balloon and I just kept it tied on my chair. I remember…I cried when it popped. I ran downstairs to my parents and they weren't there. They were gone, vanished as if they had never existed before."

The redhead sat in silence.

"I bet you think I'm stupid for telling you all this stuff. I'm sorry—"

"Thanks for the walk. I'm going."

"Wha—"

"I have to go pick up some stuff from the store. See you around."

"…"

Naruto guessed that the redhead was just that anti-social. The blonde was pondering whether to call up his friend to apologize or not. He didn't even know why he got so angry and was kind of ashamed of himself for losing his cool. However, just when he was about to pick up the phone, it rang. Naruto picked it up immediately.

"Hello?"

"Naruto."

"Hey, Sasuke! What up?"

"Do you want to go out?"

A pause.

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

* * *

Gaara sat at his desk, his lamp lit, and his work spread neatly in front of him. The redhead eyed his clock and, noticing the time, stopped his work and stretched. Then, he flipped on his cell phone, dialed and put it to his ear. 

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring—

"Yes?"

"I found him."

Gaara felt the smirk on the other side of the phone.

"Great."

* * *

The lights were off, and the last rays of the sinking sun washed into the darkening classroom. A figure stood behind the teacher's desk, shuffling and re-shuffling the stack of papers in his hands, looking at nothing in particular, mumbling, 

"Ah…it's about to begin…I can't wait." Chuckle.

"Yes, fall in love. Fall deep…fall hard…for when the time is right, it will be my pleasure to fish you out—"

**"To take it all away."**

* * *

The raven's head snapped up immediately from the pillow. She couldn't rest. The blood is desperately rushing in her veins, seeking more, seeking red.

'I have to find him,' was the first thought

She threw on her jacket, grabbed her keys and slammed out the door. Her earphones were jammed up her ears, and the music device played soft and dark. Just how she liked it. The air was chilly. Just how she liked it. The dark sky betrayed no moonlight, even better. Jean clutched her jacket, lowered her head and kept walking steadily forward, never colliding into anyone, never too fast, never too slow, never too loud…disappear. Just how she liked it.

Her feet guide her farther and farther away from the neon lights and into the dark alleys that reeked of smoke and pot.

'Choose your prey carefully. One who no one would notice gone, one who is insignificant to this world, one who would cry soundlessly into the night and never hear a cry back.'

She readied her knife in her pocket and followed her feet into the narrowest, darkest alley. This is where they are. Where the client is the victim.

In a flash, she swiped the knife clean across the throat and let the victim fall silently, his cries never heard, his existence never acknowledged.

Her crime never existed.

* * *

"Ah, Sasuke, this is kinda sudden…uhm…" 

"Sorry..."

"No, no it's okay! I'll go."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

* * *

The air felt fresh on their faces, the warmth of their proximity brought light blushes and hidden satisfactions. 

The two boys walked side by side in the night, talking about nothing in particular.

The snack was eaten in comfortable silence, as both watched the traffic go by.

"I think…" Sasuke muttered. During all the sessions in the art room, he has been pondering this problem. Is it possible to love too fast?

"Hm?"

"I think..." Sasuke looked over at the blonde boy. And how perfectly angelic he seemed at that moment. 'Is this going…too fast?'

At that moment, Naruto opened his mouth.

"I think…I'm in love."

* * *

**Me and Tesi: **

_Remember this?_: 

Dear...people of my world...

I feel like I've failed this story, and I haven't been able to lead it the way I wanted it to go. So as a result, I'm discontinuing this story. It's gonna be labeled as FAILED. I might start it some time after, but that really depends. I might get that spark back, but who knows...maybe I won't...

I apologize. Like, really really from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry I have to stop. But hopefully you'll see me again. Someday, somehow. But not right now.

-UNF

Well, I lied. I had this chapter already, so I decided, what the hell, I'll put it up anyway, since I already have it. Anyways…a bonus for you guys (whoever is left who are still reading my stories, that is) because it's my birthday. Anyhow, I'm kind of down, and there's a different reason. A math teacher in my school passed away last week. It is a big shock for me, because just the week before, we were decorating the retirement home together for Chinese New Year, and a week later…he's gone. It's a lot to get over and ironically, it gave me a push to try to revive my dead writer's soul.

Btw...I might be getting somewhere with this…

**P.S.:** You guys have to read my profile if you want to know anything about what's going on with me and my story.

**-UNF**


End file.
